Fragile
by EvilRegalOncer
Summary: For Alex, bronchitis is just extremely annoying. For Astra, it's a bit more than that. It's downright terrifying. -Formatting now fixed-
**AN: Not mine.**

 **The title I use here for Astra is borrowed from Anonymississippi on Ao3.**

* * *

"I told you I wasn't dying." Alex's voice is raspy from coughing, but she still fixes Astra with one of her infamous 'I told you so' looks as Astra settles her carefully on the sofa. "You should have just listened to me."

"Your temperature is severely elevated—"

"One hundred degrees isn't severe—"

"—and you can barely take a breath without coughing," Astra argues, her brow creasing in worry. "It was only natural for me to assume something was horribly wrong."

"It's also only natural for you to listen to me when I tell you that humans get sick sometimes and it's nothing to worry about. I'll be—" Alex breaks off into a coughing fit that lasts for about a minute. "….fine," she finishes weakly, flopping back against the sofa. Her lungs ache. Bronchitis sucks like a bitch.

"Tell me how to help you." Astra sits next to her, and in spite of how crappy she feels, Alex forgets all about it when she sees the expression on her girlfriend's face. Astra can use her eyes as a blowtorch and throw a tank with less effort than it takes Alex to lift her pinky, but right now the former general looks utterly helpless and rather desperate and it honestly kind of hurts. "Please, Alexandra."

Alex would normally be irritated that Astra is treating her like an invalid, but it's hard to be angry when the Kryptonian is like this. "If I tell you, will you stop looking like a kicked puppy?"

Astra frowns. "I am not a dog."

"Could have fooled me." Alex smirks faintly. "You did follow me home, and you eat all my food."

"Just tell me how to fix this." Astra lifts a hand to stroke her partner's cheek, and Alex can't quite hold back a sigh of relief at the coolness of Astra's fingers. Her fever isn't high, but it's high enough that she feels uncomfortably warm.

"Well, bronchitis is a virus, which means human medicines can't kill it. So I basically have to sit tight and wait for this to run its course. I can take aspirin to help with the fevers and cough medicine if I can't sleep, but otherwise…." Alex shrugs helplessly. The thought of being out of work for another week and a half (more like two and a half weeks with recovery time) is severely depressing, but if she tries to go back before she's ready, she'll hear about it from two Kryptonians and a Martian.

"I hate seeing you in such a state. Why do my abilities not include healing powers?" Astra stands up and starts to pace. Alex has to spend another moment coughing before she can manage a response."

"I'll be fine, Astra. Now come here and watch _Finding Nemo_ with me. I think we're about due for a rewatch."

"I cannot fix this!"

"Astra, you're overreacting. This really isn't so bad—"

"I could lose you, Alexandra!" Astra shouts, and Alex is honestly so shocked that her jaw literally drops. Astra is breathing hard, her fists clenched at her sides as she nearly vibrates in distress. Alex has never seen her lose control of her feelings like this. "You humans are so fragile and I cannot—I am helpless in the face of this attack. I can shield you from bullets and bombs and grenades, I can protect you from all manner of physical threats, but this…." She shakes her head, hazel eyes sparkling. "I can do nothing to help you."

Alex gathers her strength and lifts herself from the couch, ignoring Astra's protests. She takes a slow step forward, then another, until Astra is close enough that she can pull the taller woman into a warm embrace. Astra smells like Kara did when she first came, lemon and wind and earth, which is a really strange combination but somehow manages to work, and Alex tucks her face against Astra's neck as she murmurs, "You're even worse than Kara was. The first time I got a cold, she flipped the fuck out."

"You should be resting." Astra's arms slip around her, hands clasping loosely in the small of Alex's back as she nestles her cheek against the human's hair. Alex can tell that Astra is making a conscious effort to rein in her strength; as gentle as her embrace is, the muscles in the Kryptonian's arms are rigid. "Exerting yourself will only make things worse."

"Then carry me to the couch and let's watch _Finding Nemo_." Alex could happily go for the rest of her life without watching that movie again, but Astra loves it and right now she just wants her to feel better. "I'll even tell you all about the biology of the different fish."

Astra complies, carrying her to the sofa and settling down with Alex tucked securely against her. She doesn't reach for the remote, instead leaning her forehead against Alex's hair and making this tiny little whimper in the back of her throat. Alex's heart almost plummets to her stomach because she's only heard that sound twice, and both times Astra started crying almost right after. "If you cry on me, I'm not buying you pizza for our next movie night," she threatens, craning her neck back to stare up at her girlfriend. "And I'm definitely not going to take you to the zoo like I promised." The urge to cough is nearly overwhelming, but if that happens then god only knows what Astra will do.

"I have lost so much," Astra whispers, her voice quivering. Tears are making their way down her cheeks, and as Alex lifts a hand to wipe them, Astra catches it and holds it tightly. "Some of it was my own fault, some was not, but you and Kara are all I have left in this life. If I lost you—"

"You're not going to lose me." Alex tries to push herself up on her elbow, but that is a Bad Idea because as soon as she tenses her abs, a coughing fit wracks her and she flops down on Astra's chest, curling up and hacking up a lung. Well, not literally (thank god; Astra might actually have a meltdown), but it sure as shit feels like it. "Ugh," she groans. "That being said, I might just die of sheer misery."

"No!" Astra panics, crushing Alex against her, and the smaller woman yelps at the sudden, dramatic increase in pressure on her ribcage. "You can't leave me. Please, Alexandra, please…." She buries her face against Alex's hair, shoulders heaving. "Don't leave me, I love you…."

"Joke," Alex grunts, feeling kind of bad because Astra isn't good at picking up sarcasm in the best of circumstances and she's obviously extremely upset right now. "It was a joke. Astra, I love you, but I can't _breathe_."

The arms around her instantly loosen, and she gasps in relief. Well, as much as she can with her crappy lungs deciding she needs to spend another minute coughing. "Okay," Alex manages once she gets her breath back. Astra is shaking beneath her and no way in hell is that gonna fly. "Help me sit up and then I'll scoot back against the arm of the couch and you can cuddle me. How does that sound?" Astra can hear a mouse sneeze in Metropolis, so it isn't like actually having her head over Alex's heart will help her to hear it, but Alex knows Astra will feel better. Besides, she isn't the one who needs cuddles right now.

"You should be lying down." Astra sounds a bit scratchy and it makes Alex's heart twist. She finds Astra's hand and twines their fingers, thumb rubbing over the taller woman's knuckles. "And you know I think that word is ridiculous."

"So you don't want to then?"

"I never said that. And I don't want you straining yourself."

"It's actually a bit easier to breathe when I'm sitting up." As expected, that ends the argument, and soon their positions are reversed. Alex cradles Astra close, her heart aching way worse than her lungs do as Astra curls her fingers into Alex's sweatshirt and holds on tight, although thankfully the fabric doesn't rip. Soft, broken cries are escaping Astra, and although Alex wants to explain exactly why she doesn't need to be afraid, she knows that Astra just needs to let everything out. The former general may no longer be military, but she still keeps everything tightly under wraps ( _boy_ does Alex know what that's like) and it's draining, to say the least. Alex knows Astra's fear all too well; she lives with it every day, every time Supergirl goes out into the field, although her worrying has been somewhat lessened ever since Astra decided to help out. Astra is probably the one person who can protect Kara just as well as she herself can.

Alex starts to sing, her voice very quiet and somewhat rough from coughing. She has no idea what the words mean, but Kara had taught her the lullaby a long time ago, back when it was just the two of them huddling under a blanket and watching the stars from their window. She wonders now if Kara's grandmother had sung that song to Astra and Alura, if it was a song passed down the generations or some Kryptonian version of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". At least her pronunciation isn't wrong—Kara made her repeat every single word until it sounded perfect. When asked, she'd shrugged and said the meaning was hard to translate into English. It's the one thing she hasn't ever told Alex.

Astra slowly calms, and Alex keeps singing as best she can until Astra's breathing is smooth and even again. She runs a hand through the Krpytonian's hair, twining the lock of luminous silver around her index finger. "Better?"

"Kara taught you that song," Astra murmurs. "Didn't she?"

"Yeah. Back when we were kids."

"I have not heard it since I was very young."

"What does it mean? Kara wouldn't tell me."

Astra is silent, but it feels like she's searching for the words to explain rather than refusing to, so Alex waits patiently. "It's not easy to describe in this tongue, but…the song is more or less…..a promise, to be there always for the one you love. That come what may, the two of you will never be separated. Mothers and their children, lovers….sisters," she whispers, and the pain in that one word socks Alex right in the gut. Her arms tighten around Astra, as if she can take it all away and heal the wound. "I suppose the closest you have would be the word 'forever'."

"I want to be with you forever," Alex says slowly, idly trailing her hand up and down Astra's back. "But humans don't live forever. I don't think your people do either. All I can promise you is every day that I'm still breathing. What I do….what we do….is dangerous. And you're right, I don't have heat vision or super strength or a super immune system or any of that. But what I do have is you. You and Kara and Hank and my mom. Those are all the reasons I could ever need to keep fighting. I killed a Helgrimmite, remember? I'm tough as nails." She coughs. "Usually."

"Your strength is what drew me to you." Astra sits up so she can cradle Alex's cheek in her hand. "Your strength and your courage."

"Not my good looks?" Alex folds her hand over Astra's.

"I am not so shallow. But I admit, your appearance is…a nice bongo."

Alex busts out laughing, which promptly sends her into a coughing fit. Astra scoots up and helps her sit up, which actually does make breathing a bit easier. "Bonus, Astra," Alex rasps after the fit ends. "Bonus. Bongoes are a kind of drum."

"Oh. I thought that sounded a bit off."

"You're ridiculous." Alex turns her head and kisses Astra's fingers.

"I am no such thing. I am the opposite of ridiculous, thank you very much."

"Oh my god, are you _pouting_?" Alex almost squeals as she watches Astra's brow furrow and her lower lip stick out slightly.

"No!" Astra denies, but her pout intensifies. "I am Astra In-Ze, First Daughter of the House of In-Ze, Arclominian of the First Order. I do not pout."

"You're so pouting." Alex presses a quick kiss to Astra's lower lip. "And it's adorable."

Astra doesn't respond, coaxing Alex back for another kiss. It's all too brief, what with Alex barely able to breathe, but when it's done Astra looks considerably calmer, and Alex thinks the worst has passed. "I love you, you silly alien. And I'm not going anywhere. Except to sleep, probably."

"I will not disapprove this course of action." Astra shifts back down so that her head is resting over the human's heart. "But if you sleep, you owe me another viewing. You promised to tell me about all the different creatures."

Alex groans. "Fine….you're lucky I love you," she mutters, running her fingers through Astra's curly hair.

Astra whispers something in Kryptonese that Alex doesn't understand, but if she had to guess from the way Astra's voice thickens, it's probably agreement.


End file.
